Customers.com is the book that launched Dave 2.0! It moved my mindset out of the old economy and into the new economy. It provided a bridge for me to understand the transition from doing business brick and mortar style to conducting business over the Internet. Author Patricia Seybold published this book in 1998. I am not qualified to comment on various Web site's technical aspects and how far they have evolved since 1998, but Seybold's philosophy on how to take care of a customer via the Internet hasn't changed one bit. It still is the best I've ever read.

Seybold outlines the following competencies and success factors for doing business in cyberspace:

Target the right customers

Own the customer's total experience

Streamline business processes that impact the customer

Provide a 360-degree view of the customer relationship

Let customers help themselves

Help customers do their jobs

Deliver personalized service

Foster community

Seybold then provides two different case studies for each of the above factors. She uses companies like American Airlines, Babson College, Dell, Cisco and Amazon as examples. Case studies consist of business processes, technical infrastructure, best practices and Seybold's recommendation for action. This book is written for both techies and biz folks.

The case study on Tripod.com actually inspired me and two others to launch a Web site in 1999, designed to acquire, nurture and grow a community within the air conditioning industry. It was a wild ride for the first two years but we were never able to make money, although that really was never the intent. (Que lastima, where was Ad Sense then?)

It's my turn today at Talking Story . The Ho'ohana Community at Talking Story consists of folks who try to make a difference in the lives of others while in continuous pursuit of self-improvement. Conversation is always stimulating. This month however, conversation ramped up a notch to vibrant and stimulating. See, it's all about this thing called learning. The desire to learn is a viral force that runs rampant through the Ho'ohana Community. Most excellent!

The Cluetrain Manifesto is a book about conversations enabled by the Internet and technology. Conversations between people and conversations between a company and its market. I had mentioned in an earlier post I would be writing about the progressive-thinking-business mindset. And although this book is seven years old, it still is seven years ahead of some organizations...

Marketing guy: "Boss, we need to launch a blog for our customers."

Boss: "A blog? Isn't that something like a personal diary?"

Authors, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger, postulate that the Internet can alter the way people interact with business. Of course it has. One need only look at E-Bay or Amazon.com.

To Be Real

To be real is one theme for me that resonates through the book like a never ending echo. Locke tells us of when he was a PR guy. His job was to evangelize the corporate product to journalists - to be an extension of the corp-speak brochure. He felt phony doing this. So he decided to talk to the journalists about things like knowledge sharing and applied technology. It turned into having genuine conversations with genuine people. The result? His company got substantial ink.

Where Conversations Take Place

Rick Levine talks about places like e-mail, chat rooms, web pages, news groups and mailing lists. He speaks of individuals and authenticity in their voices. We can recognize when we are being spoken to by a person or by a corporate directive that's traveled through layers of lawyers and editors. The Axe

Doc Searls and David Weinberger get down to it. The Anti-Conversation: Broadcast advertisement that consumers could care less about. The authors construct a delightful metaphor of an axe buried in the head of consumers. The axe represents the incessant marketing message that the public incurs - even at times without noticing. If the axe is successful, we buy the product and silence conversation.

I recommend this book because it has the power to keep us grounded in reality. And for me, reality is conversation.

(50) Today, the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority.

Keep in mind, these points were written circa 1999. I suspect that there has always been a greater respect for hands-on knowledge over ivory tower dwellers. It's just that the power of hyperlinking provides instantaneous knowledge to all corners of the Earth.

The next few points talk about command-and-control management and how this culture divides external and internal conversations. The manifesto encourages companies to get out of the way and let the market talk to its employees. Problems however, lie in corporate firewalls. And what access is available is cloaked in corporate hucksterism and false, meaningless language.

(74) We are immune to advertising.

(75) If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make it something interesting for a change.

Isn't it amazing these days how many companies don't just get this?

(76) We've got some ideas for you too: some new tools we need, some better service. Stuff we'd be willing to pay for. Got a minute?

It makes you think that companies are programmed like robots. They talk in a slow monotone voice, void of the ability to listen and adapt.

(83) We want you to take 50 million of us as seriously as you take one reporter from The Wall Street Journal.

I get the feeling that this concept might have tipped.

(85) When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn't have such a tight rein on "your people" maybe they'd be among the people we'd turn to.

One can equate tight rein to "no Mary you are forbidden from blogging about our company while you work here."

(89) We have real power and we know it. If you don't quite see the light, some other outfit will come along that's more attentive, more interesting, more fun to play with.

(91) Our allegiance is to ourselves - our friends, our new allies and acquaintenances, even our sparring partners. Companies that have no part in this world, also have no future.

(94) To traditional corporations, networked conversations may appear confused, may sound confusing. But we are organizing faster than they are. We have better tools, more new ideas, no rules to slow us down.

(95) We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.

I believe there has been some evolvement to a higher order of interaction between the corporate world, its employees and its market. But not much.

Ninety-Five Theses - Written for the people of Earth. This is where it all began. Although these 95 points of liberation were written at least seven years ago, they resonate just as true today...if not more.

(1) Markets are Conversations

Theses point number one and The Cluetrain Manifesto's central theme. And conversations take place between human beings in a human voice...which is a lead in to points two and three.

(6) The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media

In yesterdays gone by we watched TV advertisements; we read newspapers; we were hypnotized by brochures; we were broadcast at, and then we bought products. But, be it good or bad, we never spoke much about these products beyond our own neighborhoods. Contrast that thought with the latest design in Tween Jeans. Check this out now - can you say My Space.com? Notice that I didn't hyperlink to My Space. What's the point? There isn't one person who will read this that doesn't know about My Space.com. That's conversations on steroids!

(18) Companies that don't realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity

(25) Companies need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom they hope to create relationships

Ok, this might be a start: Fastlane GM Blogs . Not! This I think is an example of a corporation trying to go undercover. If the darn mustache would stay on straight they might have a chance.

I am more apt to give up ex Microsoft employee and blogging demi-god Robert Scoble as an example, although in the grand scheme of the Redmond campus I think he was more of the minion population.

(42) As with networked markets, people are also talking to each other directly inside the company - and not just about rules and regulations, boardroom directives, bottom lines

(43) Such conversations are taking place today on corporate intranets. But only when the conditions are right.

I could be wrong, but I am afraid these two points have not progressed that much. I think that most company intranets consist of nothing more than slapping the policy manual and benefit information online. I would love to here about companies doing otherwise - providing true interactive communication!

A sharp businesswoman recently told me how she sent food in appreciation of a business relationship. Vickie was responsible for putting together a campaign for the American Red Cross to collect blood. Various local businesses sponsored the two month long program. Advertisements were run on TV, radio and in the newspapers. Businesses discounted products and all were included in each ad- thereby achieving maximum exposure. A win-win-win situation.

This businesswoman and her boss decided to send all of the business partners involved, this gift:

How cool is this? A cookie basket. You can't tell in the picture, but the cookies in the back row have personalized notes on them. The CEO of one of the companies replied himself to this thoughtful gesture, and stated they would participate next year in the same campaign.

Here is a link to the cookie company, which by the way, can be ordered online.

My doctor's appointment and Rosemary's business function fell on the same day, same side of town and half an hour apart. Since Rosemary stopped letting me go unsupervised to the doctor, I tagged along to her function. I thought this doctor business would happen much later in life, you know, when I was old and forgetful, but that hasn't been the case. I can't remember when either Vickie (oldest daughter) or Rosemary began to accompany me.

Following the doctor we drive to the Westshore Yacht Club located on Tampa's Southwest side. The Westshore Yacht Club is a community being developed by WCI . The event that day was a luncheon designed to bring together WCI's Community Representatives (cool name for salespeople), area Realtors and WCI's preferred lenders. WCI needs to sell their tower condos, homes, town homes and estates. So they bring in the Realtors, give them some food and assault their visual senses with elaborate and richly constructed architectual renderings of the buildings. Visual stimulation and presentation is paramount for developers like WCI. I need to talk more about this in the future.

Rosemary is on a first name basis with all of the Community Reps and is greeted with warmth and friendliness. We grab a plate of food and move off to look at the main condo tower model. Soon, a table across the way fills up with five or six smartly dressed business women. Richard, one of the reps walks up and begins to talk with them. A few minutes later he says, "That's the expert over there. Talk to Rosemary from Amtrust Bank ."

Rosemary is a great conversationalist (because she listens), is a stone cold expert when it comes to residential mortgages (client's needs first), always talks in simple terms and never pushes her company or self on anyone. She does however, find breaking the ice with folks awkward. Richard's thoughtful gesture did break the ice and Rosemary moved right in. Hopefully she was able to answer a few questions and establish new business contacts.

Sometimes connecting folks can be as simple as Richard's two sentences. The next time you are at a function, give it a try.

"Psssst, that's David over there. Did you hear his wife won't let him go to the doctor by himself?"

Dale Carnegie, in his book How to Win Friends and
Influence People, says, "...to be interesting, be interested."

I can't comment on the action "intend to be interested." I
don't have to intend, pretend or portend to be interested in people. I am
naturally wired that way and I thank God for that. I could listen to
folk's stories all day long. When you want to accomplish something with someone
though, you can't always afford to listen. Sometimes you have to open
your mouth. When you do, sometimes your partner in conversation expresses
a certain look. It is this look that I would like to discuss today.

Your Partner in Conversation

Their shoulders droop, their eyes drift from yours, their facial muscles head in a southerly direction, they tap their fingers, they look at their watch and they begin to do the cha-cha in their seat. What in the world has come over your partner in conversation? They stopped talking and you started to.

"Hey Dan, could you tell me about that hole-in-one again?"

You stopped in midstream and offered to inflate Dan's head back up. You wonder when you can talk again. Could you possibly spit out what you need to, before Dan's air drops to a dangerous level?

I really don't enjoy this part of the conversation. It's not an exact science. When I see my partner starting to drift off to La-La Land, I do speed up my speech. I also whip out the air hose and fill-er-up when necessary.

Obviously not all people recognize that you are giving them center stage for the majority of the discussion. Those who do will usually listen to you without letting the world know their hemorrhoids are busting out of their drawers. Ironically, this is the exact facial expression that some salesmen exhibit when you tell them no.

Short of whipping out the Preparation H, what do you do when faced with this situation?

Lisa relates that Keith says to "get past the idle chitchat and dive into topics that mean something." This is quite possibly my greatest business pet peeve!

"Hey Tony, how ya doin'?"

"Great Franky, how you doin?"

"How's business Tony?"

"Great Franky, how's your business?"

"Weather's bad Tony."

"Yeah Franky, weather's bad buddy."

I used to try and take conversations with Franky's and Tony's beyond the idle chitchat.

"Hey Davie, how ya doin' man?"

"Great Tony. Hey man, I just heard about a guy who offers this great cutlery service. He comes into your restaurant and services your knives and silverware. Bob over at the Hambone says he's never seen anyone deliver this kind of service. You ought to check him out."

Tony's eyes begin to glass over. His body sways from side to side. Just when he looks like he's about to go into a complete epileptic fit, he inhales deeply on his stogie, regains his balance like a champion fighter and says, "Hey Davie, how's business man?"

It never fails, the Franky and Tony's of the world are like wind up dolls. Crank em' up and let em' go. Sure, they'll hit the wall. They just bounce off it a couple times until they are turned around and go their merry way.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhh!!

In all fairness to Keith, I had heard the buzz about his book before. It's been on my "to buy" list for sometime. I do believe that Lisa has just rekindled that buzz. I can hardly wait.

Dwayne, author of Genuine Curiousity, states that he'd like to develop skills as a Connector. I am sure there are as many ways to become a connector as there are ways for a politician to deflect a straight question. Before I tell you what works when it comes to connecting for me, I'd like to reference something that Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, says about Connectors.

"What makes someone a Connector? The first-and most obvious-criterion is that Connectors know lots of people. They are the kinds of people who know everyone."

Malcolm is personally responsible for bringing an awareness to Connectors via his insanely popular book. I view myself as a Connector. When I read Malcolm's first criterion here however, I don't see this person as me. I see this person as some outwardly gregarious fellow who, at a social event, everyone gravitates towards. You know, like some Barbie or Ken gliding effortlessly through the hall with their minions scratching and clawing each other for a closer place in line. Me? I'm standing against the wall, strapped in tighter than a NASCAR driver. Well, I used to do that anyhow. Now I just trail along behind Barbie and Ken and pick up the bodies.

"Wow! You actually got to talk to Barbie? I see you're wearing a Slacker Manager Rocks tee shirt. Have you read Bren's The Secret Art of Managing Your Boss yet? You have, eh. What did...?

What Works For Me

I love hooking people up with other people who I think can help them...same goes for books, places and stuff. In order to hook someone up, I must know something about them. Now here's the easy part. I just encourage folks to talk about themselves. For me, it's fun too because I love to hear stories. Once you do this enough, threads of the conversation will start clicking for you.

"You know Dave, I'm having a problem organizing my management system at work. Heck, what am I saying? I don't even have a system. To make matters worse, I'm very process oriented."

Well, I think it took me all of two seconds to send this person Lisa Haneberg's way. I knew from reading Lisa's book High Impact Middle Management and hanging around her Management Craft blog, that Lisa would be a tremendous resource.

That's about it. You don't have to be the life of the party. You should have a genuine concern to learn about others. And you should have a desire to help others.

Personal and Outdated

I was nineteen years old and working in a grocery store. One day I was packing groceries for this hot cashier who I had heard just broke up with her boyfriend.

"So, what kind of music do you like? What else do you like?" I was ripping off the questions.